Newark, NJ school district requiring masks for new school year

NEWARK — Students and teachers of Newark Public Schools must continue to wear face coverings when the new academic year begins.

The district is sticking with its policy that had been in effect through the end of the most recent school year, according to a spokesperson. School districts in New Jersey have been able to make their own rules about masks since early March.

"We are continuing our deep-cleaning procedures and our mask mandate, and if that changes, we will notify families accordingly," Nancy Deering, interim executive director of communications for the district, told New Jersey 101.5.

The district, which has more than 65 locations and handles about 38,000 students, welcomes students back on Sept. 6.

Earlier this month, Gov. Phil Murphy lifted the state's COVID-19 testing mandate for unvaccinated teachers and school employees, following updates to guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Officials are not tracking district's masking rules.

Dino Flammia is a reporter for New Jersey 101.5. You can reach him at dino.flammia@townsquaremedia.com

Click here to contact an editor about feedback or a correction for this story.

What would happen to NJ if we were attacked by nuclear weapons?

We used NUKEMAP by Alex Wellerstein to see what would happen if a nuclear warhead hit New York, Philadelphia, Washington or New Jersey.

The models show what would happen in aerial detonation, meaning the bomb would be set off in the sky, causing considerable damage to structures and people below; or what would happen in a ground detonation, which would have the alarming result of nuclear fallout. The models do not take into account the number of casualties that would result from fallout.

LOOK: Baby names that are illegal around the world

Stacker scoured hundreds of baby name databases and news releases to curate a list of baby names that are illegal somewhere in the world, along with explanations for why they’re banned.